Art, Garb, and Steel: MET Retrospective
So Dojo Field Trip 11/1/09 to the MET to see the Art of the Samurai: Japanese Arms and Armor, 1156–1868 exhibit. There was so much to see and not enough time to really admire and take everything in. It was so interesting to see everything that it had to offer. Trying to see everything you might miss some points but going through the years in the exhibit you could still see minor differences in the work of the swords.
While the quality of these swords were all still beautiful you could notice that the swords crafted during times of was were crafted with specific battle implications set, and that many of those swords where at one point a different type of sword but eventually became damaged during battle and were re crafted as a different type of swords. A couple of sword were originally longer, and I'm pretty sure that there was a Waki or a Tanto that was originally a much longer blade. While the swords crafted during times of piece piece were still practical for some use, I don't think you would have wanted to charge into battle with it. What also struck my eye was the amount of detail that went into everything, it is so eerie that they were able to get such precise detail. Though Magnifying Glass probably did exist around that time I'm not quite sure they were even used for this.
The Restoration Process:
Many of the Items on Display were originally badly damaged and were prevented from being seen by the public for fear of further deterioration. I can recall looking at the giant Japanese flag that was on display from a distance it looked completely in tack but upon getting closer i saw that the flag had succumb to to many rips and tears as noted by the amount of stitching used to make it whole once again. There was also one of the Quivers that was in poor condition it was split almost in half and many of the extraordinary details were faded, before if was taken to be restored to near original detail.
I want to thank Japan for letting many of these Treasure be shipped temporarily here to the US for many to see and I also want to that the team of people that worked to restoring many of those fine works. Without them many of the exhibits on display wouldn't have been there and would have been lost to future generations to enjoy.
Some Key points:
1. The Sword that Equaled Amy's Wing Span.
2. The Sword that earned it's Nickname for Supposedly Cutting Through a table to kill a man.
3. Getting to See a real Muramasa. I thought I saw a Masamune too. Though my eyes might have played a trick)
4. Neil Getting Yelled At By Museum Security and everything that happened after the Museum.
-Andy
While the quality of these swords were all still beautiful you could notice that the swords crafted during times of was were crafted with specific battle implications set, and that many of those swords where at one point a different type of sword but eventually became damaged during battle and were re crafted as a different type of swords. A couple of sword were originally longer, and I'm pretty sure that there was a Waki or a Tanto that was originally a much longer blade. While the swords crafted during times of piece piece were still practical for some use, I don't think you would have wanted to charge into battle with it. What also struck my eye was the amount of detail that went into everything, it is so eerie that they were able to get such precise detail. Though Magnifying Glass probably did exist around that time I'm not quite sure they were even used for this.
The Restoration Process:
Many of the Items on Display were originally badly damaged and were prevented from being seen by the public for fear of further deterioration. I can recall looking at the giant Japanese flag that was on display from a distance it looked completely in tack but upon getting closer i saw that the flag had succumb to to many rips and tears as noted by the amount of stitching used to make it whole once again. There was also one of the Quivers that was in poor condition it was split almost in half and many of the extraordinary details were faded, before if was taken to be restored to near original detail.
I want to thank Japan for letting many of these Treasure be shipped temporarily here to the US for many to see and I also want to that the team of people that worked to restoring many of those fine works. Without them many of the exhibits on display wouldn't have been there and would have been lost to future generations to enjoy.
Some Key points:
1. The Sword that Equaled Amy's Wing Span.
2. The Sword that earned it's Nickname for Supposedly Cutting Through a table to kill a man.
3. Getting to See a real Muramasa. I thought I saw a Masamune too. Though my eyes might have played a trick)
4. Neil Getting Yelled At By Museum Security and everything that happened after the Museum.
-Andy
Comments
And there was a Masamune there.
Muramasa > Masamune.
Thanks for the review. I will make sure I get to the Met as soon as I can...
Vincent